France’s Macron to Visit Athens as Part of his ‘European Agenda’

French President Emmanuel Macron will be making an official visit to Greece from Sept. 7-8, a source in the Elysee Palace said, as he seeks to build momentum behind a drive to deepen European integration.

Macron’s aides have described a “very European” agenda after he returns from his holiday in southern France. He will be travelling to Austria, Romania and Bulgaria next week, before hosting the leaders of Germany, Spain and Italy the week after.

Earlier this summer, Macron was among European leaders who called for Greece‘s debt burden to be eased over time, to help it emerge from an economic crisis. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel is still opposing the idea.

He has pressed his regional counterparts to embrace a more ambitious approach to matters such as European defence cooperation and tax harmonisation, and said EU treaty change should not be viewed as taboo.